What is a good response to this statement? The United States should not have practiced imperialism in the late 19th century. Politician William Jennings Bryan describes his anti-imperialist position by arguing that a strong nation is defined by facing the problems of society, having a “republic whose flag is loved by other flags,” (Bryan, 1900, 1:10). A strong nation is one that leads by example and extends a hand to its neighbors. The United States instead chose to follow European power-hungry countries. We see today how common it is for other countries to hate the United States because of its imperialist nature. The practice of imperialism was important to the U.S. because they had expanded as far West as they could and they saw how European countries were establishing dominance on the global stage and they didn’t want to be left behind (Corbett et al., 2014, Chapter 22.1). The United States chose violence to assert its dominance and chose to play the imperialist games Europe participated in. Imperialism is an action whose negative consequences are forced upon the victims and the multiple generations that come after them. Imperialism has victims because nations “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” (Bryan, 1900, 0:35). It is the absence of consent to be governed that creates victims. An imperialist in the late 19th century would argue against this claim by Bryan because they justified imperialism through manifest destiny, their belief that they have a divine right to conquer land.
What is a good response to this statement?
The United States should not have practiced imperialism in the late 19th century. Politician William Jennings Bryan describes his anti-imperialist position by arguing that a strong nation is defined by facing the problems of society, having a “republic whose flag is loved by other flags,” (Bryan, 1900, 1:10). A strong nation is one that leads by example and extends a hand to its neighbors. The United States instead chose to follow European power-hungry countries. We see today how common it is for other countries to hate the United States because of its imperialist nature. The practice of imperialism was important to the U.S. because they had expanded as far West as they could and they saw how European countries were establishing dominance on the global stage and they didn’t want to be left behind (Corbett et al., 2014, Chapter 22.1). The United States chose violence to assert its dominance and chose to play the imperialist games Europe participated in. Imperialism is an action whose negative consequences are forced upon the victims and the multiple generations that come after them. Imperialism has victims because nations “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” (Bryan, 1900, 0:35). It is the absence of consent to be governed that creates victims. An imperialist in the late 19th century would argue against this claim by Bryan because they justified imperialism through manifest destiny, their belief that they have a divine right to conquer land.
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